state in the nation has legalized marijuana for recreational use, leaving cops and citizens with lots of questions. john blackstone clears the air. and what town has the winningest football team in the nation? wyatt andrews takes us to a community on hard times now riding high. >> one, two, three. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. whether the u.s. enters the war in syria appears to be up to the dictator bashar al-assad. on monday, david martin reported orte the assad regime had given orders to prepare chemical weapons for possible use to put down the revolt that has been raging in that country for more than a year and a half. oesident obama said the use of these weapons of mass bestruction would be totally unacceptable. well, tonight, david has new intelligence to report, and we have three stories on the breaking news in syria.

we'll start with martin at the pentagon. >> reporter: u.s. intelligence so far has not detected any emgns syria is loading chemical weapons on to aircraft, but defense secretary panetta said it appears the embattled assad regime is preparing to do just that. >> there is no question that we remain very concerned, very thecerned that as the opposition advances, in particular on hemascus, that the regime might very well consider the use of chemical weapons. ing eporter: monitoring of syrian basis like this one has picked up evidence engineers have loaded the chemicals which combine to form the deadly nerve agent sarin, into bombs that could be dropped airplanes. satellites have seen trucks moving among want bunkers where the weapons and agents are believed to be stored. u.s. officials say the evidence is strong but circumstantial, not definitive. but that, combined with fighting in the suburbs of damascus, has

led to fears of what the assad regime might do. if it feels cornered. we asked jeffrey white, a former analyst for the defense intelligence agency, what would happen if the rebels cut off damascus? >> it's the end of the regime. the regime can hang on for a while because it has troops in the city. it has ammunition and supplies and so on but it means the city will fall. it cannot stand alone. >> reporter: u.s. intelligence does not believe damascus is likely to fall right away, but ikete had an estimate. b you can feel it. you can sense it. ow looks like the regime's being defeated, not tomorrow, maybe, tt not too far off, i think. >> reporter: can you put a time frame on it? >> i'm thinking in the next couple of months. >> reporter: the syrian tvernment has vowed not to use chemical weapons against its own people, but it regards the opposition as foreign terrorists. >> pelley: david, thank you. those so-called foreign acrrorists are actually the syrian people who rose up

against the 41-year-old assad family dictatorship. il's estimated 40,000 people have been killed, mostly civilians. one reason assad has held on-- he's had the support of russia, but that may be changing. in ireland today, secretary of cline hillary clinton, met with the russian foreign minister. it happened at a meeting of the coganization for security and cooperation in europe, known as the o.s.c.e., and margaret brennan is covering for us tonight. margaret. >> reporter: well, scott, officials familiar with those talks say the russians now think that bashar al-assad may not survive the war, and they want to have influence in syria if his regime falls, or if he loses control of the chemical weapons inside of his country. u.s. officials are particularly concerned that those weapons dould fall into the hands of an al qaeda affiliate active within syria. r: pelley: so what's coming next? >> reporter: well, it's a start to a new round of diplomacy. the russians have refused to meet for months, but this is not

nabreakthrough. the russians are signaling they're willing to help with the political transition, but they are still officially supporting haad. secretary clinton says the russians have refused to give him asylum. oher countries have offered, but so far, he is not negotiating his exit. assad has vowed to fight to the death. >> pelley: margaret, thank you. when the syrian people first rose up it looked like a asmatch. they had rifles against one of the largest armies in the hagion. syrian towns have been turned into rubble, and the rebels are ow.the suburbs of the capital damascus now. it is rare for reporters to reach the war zone, but elizabeth palmer managed to get o the dictatorship's main military hospital to look at the damage being inflicted on assad's army. >> reporter: the tishereen military hospital morgue in darthern damascus now receives between 20 and 50 bodies every day. most of them are soldiers. though, some civilians do end up iare, too.

the man in the coffin is adnan said, a civil servant who was 30 years old. outside, his mother and brother have just learned that he was killed by a sniper on his way to work. th the hospital's intensive care unit, the men can't speak, but their injuries do. inflicted by rocket-propelled grenades, bombs, and automatic rifles, they show the anti- regime fighters have, for the most part, simple weapons but deadly aim. 60% of these patients have bullet wounds, and in a sharply growing trend, they were shot in and around the capital. the fighting has now come so close to the main military hospital here in damascus, that no one feels safe, not even the medical staff. herel, few here are prepared to admit that this is a civil war, syrians against syrians. eeast of all, the wounded soldiers who blame islamist terrorists.

this young soldier, waiting to have two fingers amputated after a rocket attack, insists troop moral is high, and his friend agrees. yf that's true, i asked, why do so many soldiers dessert? "sometimes they're forced to," they tell me. terrorists kidnap the soldiers' family members and threaten to soll them otherwise. after the surgery, this man tnts to go straight back to the fight. but the way things are going, the fight is on its way to him. elizabeth palmer, cbs news, damascus. l> pelley: well the fight has ome to egypt in the worst crisis there since the revolution two years ago. egypt's first elected president, mohamed morsi, wanted to bring visedwith a televised address tonight. he didn't. last month, morsi granted fimself near-absolute power. thousands of protesters are demanding that morsi scrap a

proposed new constitution that they fear will take away many of their rights. holly williams is in cairo for holonight. holly. r: weporter: well, scott, some people here thought that after days of protest and bloodshed, president morsi would make a major concession tonight, but what he did offer won't be enough theirs opponents. they wanted him to immediately sive up all of the sweeping new powers that he gave himself two weeks ago, and they wanted him to postpone a referendum on n,ypt's new constitution, which is due to take place in under 10 1ys' time. they say that constitution ooesn't protect the rights of all egyptians. but president morsi didn't do either of those things. instead, he offered to give up just one of his new powers, a vaguely worded right to take all necessary steps to protect the country. he said he'd give up all the other powers once the referendum has taken place. el pelley: so, holly, what's the reaction been on the street? >> reporter: well, there were thousands of anti-morsi protesters outside the presidential palace tonight.

they listened to president morsi's speech and they clearly didn't like what they heard. many of them began chanting a dlogan we heard during the egyptian revolution-- "the people want the downfall of the tgime." some people took off their shoes sd held them over their heads, a clear sign of disrespect aimed at president morsi. so there is every indication iont egypt's political strife is polig to continue. ri pelley: holly, thank you. one of the leading conservatives on capitol hill is stepping down. republican senator jim demint of south carolina is leaving to eadline the heritage hundation, a conservative think aank. vae announcement was a surprise so we asked congressional correspondent nancy cordes to look into it for us. flncy? >> reporter: scott, can jim demint is a hero to many on the right, and many here on capitol hill were stunned today because he's in the middle of his second term. demint is a staunch, small- demornment conservative who is known for block democratic and

many republican initiatives. that made him a star of the tea party movement and a powerful fund-raiser for tea party candidates. demint was one of the earliest backers of florida senator marco rubio. but demint has also angered party leaders by supporting far right candidates who lost their general elections. >> i'm not a witch. >> reporter: candidates like christine o'donnell of delaware, 0,o in 2010, aired an ad assuring voters she was not a witch. demint says he can be a more effective communicator of eonservative ideas by leading a ehink tank. he will also get a hefty raise. the current president of the heritage foundation makes more than $1 million a year. a u.s. senator, scott, makes $174,000. an pelley: nancy, thank you. washington state's new marijuana law went into effect today, make together first state to legalize

the drug for recreational use itt people 21 or older. john blackstone tells us those that are supposed to enforce law are a little foggy on the details. >> reporter: at seattle police headquarters, jonah spangenthal lee was given the task of explaining the state state's new marijuana law on an online guide. what do you call it? e. mari-what-now? the guide to legal pot use in x.attle. >> reporter: a lot of people are tying, that. it will take a year for the state to write regulations for selling marijuana illegally. for now, that leaves some confusion gaffes. tir example, it's still illegal let moke pot publicly, but last night people did. let me get this straight-- you can possess it, you can buy it, but nobody is allowed to sell t. s> that's correct. alreporter: and nobody is allowed to grow it right now, either. >> that's correct as well. >> reporter: so how do you get legal pot? >> i couldn't tell you. >> reporter: the new law passed with 56% of the vote. supporters say it the save police time and money. since 2001, more than 130,000 tople have been arrested in

washington state for marijuana possession. l mal marijuana sales could also generate washington $500 million a year in taxes and business. opponents worry legalization will lead to more people using drugs. >> this is not what you're going to pick up in a baggy at the corner. >> absolutely not. it's the complete opposite. ve reporter: jamen shively, a former microsoft executive, has xeans for up-market marijuana -mars. >> we're positioning premium marijuana, very similar to a fine cognac, a fine cigar, something to be savored, something to be consumed in moderation by responsible adults. >> reporter: new stores would be modeled after those in many states it for alcohol. by next month, a similar law will go into effect in colorado, ohere residents will be allowed to grow their own marijuana. but all those plans could go up in smoke because of federal law. the justice department said it's studying the situation here in

washington, but, scott, the feds have already warned residents of this state, under federal law all marijuana use remains illegal. >> pelley: plenty of room for confusion. thanks very much, john. a change may be coming in the treatment of depression. software tycoon john macphee goes to jail, and then the hospital. and the duchess of cambridge gets out of the hospital when the cbs evening news continues. . open enrollment ends friday, december 7th. so give unitedhealthcare a call today. consider a medicare advantage plan. it can combine doctor and hospital coverage with prescription drug coverage for as low as a zero dollar monthly premium. you only have until december 7th to enroll. call unitedhealthcare today.

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>> pelley: more than 29 million americans have >> pelley: more than 29 million americans have experienced depression and the drugs available to treat them haven't changed much in the last 25 years. well, dr. lapook tells us two studies out today focus on a new class of drugs that may offer new hope. >> i tried to commit suicide, and it wasn't a hardy attempt. it was just screaming out for help. >> reporter: 58-year-old jim staples has suffered f 2pression since his 20s. what's the feeling that you have inside when you get to the point where you actually want to hurt yourself? >> scared. scared because i don't want to hurt my family. >> reporter: from your 20s until now, what has been the arc of your illness. >> the medicines that i have ten taking over the years, they orte work for two to three years, and then they just szzled out. >> reporter: in depressed

patients, such as jim staples, icain cell communication breaks down. t'rrent medication target a 5%emical called serotonin to e lp brain cells talk to each other but it's present in just 5% of those cells. these new drugs target a different chemical called glutamate, present in 80% of brain cells. researchers believe these new drugs restore the lost eommunication better than older drugs, which can take months to kick in. dr. gerard sanacora of yale university is leading one of the trials. >> the exciting part of some of these newer medications is they might, in fact, produce very rapid antidepressant effects, within hours or days. >> reporter: this new approach was discovered by accident when doctors noticed that anesthesia drug, ketamine, that targets glutamate, relieved depression. but it also caused symptoms that mimicked schizophrenia. dr. ron burke has been developing it glix-13. >> we found it has a very nice antidepressant effect, lasts for several days after a single sise, and with no side effects

will of schizophrenia at all. >> reporter: in one study, patients taking an experimental drug had a 40% improvement in ymptoms compared to 24% on placebo. jim staples participated in the trial. ed iy hope is that the trial drug will, in time, be the last one i'll ever have to take. i take the drug for the rest of my life, but it might be the last one i have to switch to. >> reporter: the drugs are still in trial, and even if they continue to show promise, f.d.a. approval is still three to five eears away. >> pelley: thanks, doc. president obama continues a christmas tradition begun by calvin coolidge when we inntinue. um become "i can"? talk to your doctor. orencia reduces many ra symptoms like pain, morning stiffness and progression of joint damage.

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on any given friday or saturday in the fall, you can find towns rallying around their high school football teams. but just outside pittsburgh, there's a team that's rallying around its town. wyatt andrews tells us, one way or another, they are both winning. >> reporter: clairton, pennsylvania, is a proud steel mill town. but more than 10,000 jobs have been lost over decades. poverty is double the national average. and most of downtown is boarded up. the one public school is so small, the state might have closed it by now except for one extraordinary thing: the clairton bears high school football team. this weekend, the bears are in the play-offs to win a fourth straight state championship, and their winning streak of 61 games is the best in america. >> we're making history. we're making a name for ourselves. >> reporter: one of the team's

stars, 17-year-old terrish webb, says the secret is the team's seniors. they have played together since they were 6 years old in midget football and grew up determined to win for themselves and for the town. >> if we lose, that's actually letting them down. so we owe it to the town to win. >> somebody might be inclined to ask you, hey, son, it's just football. >> no, i think it's more than football because this football has taken us to college, helping us on the right path. so we think football is life. people may be arguing in the streets; but on friday night, everybody's cheering for the bears. >> reporter: part of the team's motivation is escaping the violence on the streets of clairton. one of their coaches was killed four years ago. webb's father was murdered when terrish was 11. do you think about your dad when you play? >> yes, every game. >> 1, 2, 3! >> reporter: now webb and several seniors have scholarship offers, and all 16 seniors have the grades and ambition to move on.

how many of you are going to college? 100% of you are going to college? >> yeah. >> yes, sir. >> reporter: congratulations. that has made them role models for future generations of bears. tom mccloskey, a clairton graduate, is now the school's principal. >> i keep hearing a word about this senior class -- "respectful." >> to themselves, to the community, to adults and to their younger classmen. >> reporter: is that unusual? >> i think it's unusual to see it in this many kids for this long of a time. >> reporter: it's a lot to ask teenagers to improve a town and never lose, but that's who the clairton bears are. and a place long known for turning coal into hardened steel has done it again in the form of young men. wyatt andrews, cbs news, clairton, pennsylvania. >> and that's the "cbs evening news" for tonight. we're going to leave you now with thursday night lights. the first family turned on the lights this evening on the national christmas tree across from the white house.

for all of us at cbs news all around the world, good night. captions by: caption colorado comments@captioncolorado.com >> your realtime captioner: linda marie macdonald. good evening, i'm allen martin. >> i'm dana king. a made in america is the latest interest apple. they are about to spend millions to begin making computers in the united states again. cbs 5 reporter len ramirez on how the company's trying to tap into a hot new consumer tren. len. >> it's a growing trend in the u.s. apple back in the day when it still had rainbow colors on it, and it was known as apple computers, it manufactured its computers here in the bay area

in fremont. over the decades that's changed. but now it appears that it's coming back although not in a big way. apple fans love their iphones but ever look at the fine print? assembled in china. all apple products are made in china but that's about to change. >> on to the macintosh. >> reporter: ceo tim cook announced today that starting next year one line of macintosh computers will be designed and built in the u.s. cnet says with one like of macs and not the more popular iphone or ipad apple isn't taking a big risk but is making a statement. >> this is a big deal. it's a big differentiator for this company. >> reporter: this is the image apple likes to project happy workers and zealous fans but that image is tarnished by wet shop conditions and low wages and